The Word was made flesh
Christmas 2, 5 January, 2003
Fr Neville Connell
Assistant Priest, St Peter's, Eastern Hill
As the Archbishop of Canterbury said, when preaching from this pulpit last Pentecost, St John always has his own way of looking at things. If we look at the beginning of the Gospel books, we find that St Mark takes us back to the Old Testament to the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, leading us to the birth of Jesus through St John the Baptist. If you wish to understand the meaning of Jesus, he is saying, you must see him as the fruit, the culmination of God's purpose for his people Israel, in order to have a true perspective.
St Matthew takes us back further, presumably with St Mark's Gospel in front of him, to the call of Abraham, where God chose and called a people into being for himself, suggesting that the birth of Jesus is the final fulfilment of that original promise to Abraham.
St Luke takes us back even further still, to Adam, the first man, everyman, and Eve, everywoman; suggesting that the story of Jesus began with the creation of human beings, man and woman; that as God created man and woman, so in the life and death of Jesus he was creating a new humanity. So St Paul refers to Jesus as the second Adam.
What does St John do? He takes us back to creation itself, and even before. St John is suggesting that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God is not just creating a new humanity, but a new creation itself. St John begins his Gospel with the same words as start the book of Genesis, "In the beginning..." The first creation was the act of God's Word, "The word of God spoke and said 'Let there be light.. Let there be a vault between the waters ... Let the earth produce things ... Let us make human beings in our image...'", and so on.
God's word never ceases to act, to create, to enliven his people Israel – "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made" (Psalm 33:6). The great prophets habitually prefaced their pronouncements by saying, "Thus says the Lord...". In out First Reading today (Ecclus 24:1-2,8-12), the Word of God is related to the Wisdom of God, "Then the Creator of all things instructed me ... He said, 'Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance.' ... In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority. I have taken root in a privileged people." The close relationship between Word and Wisdom, and the prophetic relationship to Jesus can be seen or heard.
Which is why St John the Baptist is so important, as the bridge between the creative wise, word of God, and Jesus; calling the people of Israel to hear the Word of God again in their lives, to make the Wisdom of God their own. And yet to prepare for the Coming of the One, promised of old, the fulfilment of all the promises to Israel, to the whole of Creation. So St John declares, daringly, that the Word of God, alive at Creation, active in the lives of his chosen people, became flesh, and not just for the people of Israel but for all people.
The great paradox is that although the Word came to his own people, became one of their own flesh, yet all but a faithful remnant rejected him. "He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him." (St John 1:1-18). In fact, it was the people outside Israel who responded most to the Word made flesh, to Jesus. In our Second Reading today, (Ephesians 1:3-6,15-18), the writer encourages them to be faithful to Jesus, in keeping with the tradition of the earliest Christians. "Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved."
This is our extraordinary heritage and tradition as Christians. Through Holy Baptism we have come into the "light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower." As our Second Reading says, we have by our baptism been adopted as God's children, adopted as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
Yet there are many people today who do not know the Word made flesh, the Divine Word, increasingly in our country, not least among "old" Australia. There are many who; having had some contact with the Word made flesh, have rejected him. They reject the light of the Word which shines ... into our hearts, perhaps too brightly, penetratingly, to reveal the emptiness of so much of life today.
We have indeed a heritage, a tradition, a vision. We also have hope. Hope built on the wonderful love of God – "The Word was made flesh, he lived among us". He lives among us today, risen in all his glory. Well may the writer of our Second Reading today pray, "May the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit."
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